MarkLives.com runs a regular slot featuring the best local and international magazine covers every week. We recognise well thought out, powerful and interesting (and hopefully all three in one) magazine covers and celebrate the mix of pragmatism, creativity and personal taste that created each of them. By media blogger MediaSlut.
INTERNATIONAL
Treats!, Issue 5, 2013
I’ve never heard of “treats!” magazine before, but I doubt I’ll forget it after seeing their great work on CoverJunkie; The cover looks quite normal, even though it’s a unique crop and way of laying it out. But when you open the cover up, that’s when you get the creative surprise…
TIME (US), 8 April 2013
Pity that these covers were only published for the US-edition. I would have liked to pick up this edition in South Africa. They’re pushing the boundaries again, and surely millions of buttons in the US. I’m already looking forward to see what will be in the letter pages about this bold and great stance on gay marriage.
Sports Illustrated (US), April 2013
It’s a creative concept which makes for a smashing cover, and they did it over split covers (more than one cover onshelf), giving readers the opportunity to buy their favourite cover. I just can’t decide if it’s smart or uncreative that all of these guys are in the same position, and the background colours are all the same. But maybe it’s for the best, as they do look like the ‘belong together’ when one sees all of them like this.
LOCAL
VISI, 65
Just like with the VISI 64 cover (also featured on MarkLives), VISI 65 is hitting creativity and uniqueness out of the ballpark again (with reference to the Sports Illustrated covers above, of course…) with this cover. It’s kitch, but extremely cool and bold. And talking about the VISI 64 cover where readers were invited to cross-stitch the cover, here are all the winners! It’s amazing to see how people still interact with magazines, and the perfect example of what would NOT be possible if ALL magazines went digital…
Business Day Sport Monthly, April 2013
Oscar Pistorius is still very much in the news, and this is a great cover from the Business Day Sport team. And spot the “halo”…
– The (for now anonymous) blogger behind MediaSlut knows way too much for his own good about media in South Africa. Magazines in particular. His mission is to show when South African magazines might fail, but most importantly, succeed. If you’re looking for a library about South African magazines and news, your one-stop pitstop is MediaSlut. #MagazinesForTheWin
– Find a cover we should know about? Tweet us @marklives and @mediaslut
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